According to Britain's national happiness survey, having children brings an increased sense of meaning into people's lives, the Daily Mail reported.

The latest measure of the country's well-being Thursday revealed that having children does not necessarily make people happier or more satisfied with their lot. But it does make them feel they have more of a reason for living.

The survey, carried out among 80,000 people, asked four questions: how satisfied they were with their lives, to what extent their lives were worthwhile, how happy they were yesterday, and how anxious they felt yesterday.

It was conducted by the Office for National Statistics.

The researchers also acknowledged for the first time that the figures show that married people are happier than everyone else, and that the most miserable are those who are divorced or separated.

"People who are married or in civil partnerships reported the highest average levels of life satisfaction, significantly higher than cohabiting couples. The lowest average rating was reported by people who are divorced or separated, including those who have dissolved civil partnerships," the report said.

(China.org.cn April 29, 2012)

《每日郵報》報道，英國的全國幸福感調查顯示，養孩子可使人們感到生活更有意義。

這項最新的調查顯示，養孩子不一定能讓人們更幸福，對自己的生活更加滿意，卻能使他們感到生活更有意義。

有8萬人參與了該調查。他們被問的4個問題包括：對生活的滿意度如何、生活的意義有多大、昨天有多幸福以及昨天有多焦慮。

調查由國家統計局負責。

研究人員還首次承認，他們的數據顯示，結婚的人比其他任何人更幸福，而最痛苦的是離異或分手的人。

報告說：“結婚或有民事伴侶關系的人平均滿意度水平最高，比同居的伴侶要高很多。離異或分手的平均打分則最低，包括終止民事伴侶關系的人。”